Dec. 18, 2009

The Dirt on Mammoth DNA

Researchers examining DNA evidence gathered from permafrost soil samples collected north of Fairbanks, Alaska say that the woolly mammoth may have survived for thousands of years longer than the fossil record indicates. Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers suggest central Alaska was still home to living mammoths as recently as 7,500 to 10,500 years ago. Those new dates mean that people and mammoths could have co-existed in what is now America for over 3500 years. We'll find out more.